Automatic user assignment to a key

[fantozzi.cz]

Is there someone here who successfully use 2 keys for user detection? My car always sticks with the latest user setting and I have to switch the user manually. "Automatic key assignment" is ON for both users. Secondary user was created with secondary key only in the car. Thanx

 

[PanEuropean]

I'm also interested in an answer to this question.

Past VWs that I have owned were smart enough to pair certain user preferences (mirror position, radio volume, climate control settings) with each key fob. The car would switch these preferences automatically when I used the car with my key & my wife used the car with her key.

Surely the MK 8, with all its electronic wizardry, is smart enough to do this, especially considering my 2004 Phaeton did this 20 years ago. But the (Canadian) owner manual for my 2024 GTI makes no mention of driver preferences or key pairing, and I have not found any information in the various fora about this.

Can anyone help @fantozzi.cz and I by sharing what you know?

Michael

 

[Massimo 2323]

So I found these entries in the VW digital manual:

User management:

Introduction to the topic

It is possible to create user accounts for different vehicle users in your vehicle. This allows personalised vehicle settings, e.g. for the air conditioning system, to be saved in a user account.

User login after switching on the ignition
If user accounts have been created in the vehicle, a welcome menu opens when the ignition is switched on. The vehicle user can then either log in or change the user. If the user account has been protected with an S-PIN, the S-PIN must be entered in order to log in.
You can activate the option Save S-PIN so that you are no longer asked to enter your S-PIN for user account selection. However, remember that third parties can then access your personal data.
The settings stored in the user profile will be loaded in the vehicle as soon as a user has logged in.

Automatic assignment of a user account to the vehicle key
If a vehicle user logs into the vehicle with their user account, the vehicle key that is active in the vehicle will be automatically assigned to their user account. When the vehicle is opened with an assigned vehicle key, the user account assigned to the vehicle key is offered for selection in the welcome menu. If the user account is changed, the new active user account will be assigned to the vehicle key active in the vehicle.
Automatic assignment of the vehicle key to the user account can be deactivated under Users - Assign vehicle key automatically.

Opening user management

1. After switching on the ignition, tap Change user in the welcome menu.
   Or: tap MENU - Users.

Also this:

Personalisation

Introduction to the topic

The personalisation function allows personalised vehicle settings, e.g. for the air conditioning system, to be saved in a user account. User identification takes place when logging into the Infotainment system. Changes to the settings are assigned to the user account active in the vehicle and are automatically saved online in the user account via an existing internet connection.

Opening the configuration wizard for personalised vehicle settings

1. Tap MENU - Configuration wizard.

Personalised vehicle settings
The vehicle functions that can be configured depend on the equipment level. Some personalisable functions are not stored online, but are only assigned to the user account locally in the vehicle.
The following functions can be personalised:

• Settings for single door unlocking, convenience opening and windows.
• Wiper settings.
• Seat settings.
• Switch-on times for dipped beam and settings for convenience turn signal.
• Air conditioning system settings.
• Driving data display and instrument cluster (selection of displays).

Synchronising vehicle settings
Depending on equipment and country, the vehicle has an online personalisation function. With online personalisation, vehicle settings changed in the vehicle are automatically assigned to the active user account and are stored online on a cyclical basis. The vehicle settings are also automatically synchronised with the data stored online in the following situations when an Internet connection has been established:

• When the ignition and Infotainment system are switched on: synchronises all user accounts stored in the vehicle that have recently been used.
• When switching to another user account: synchronises the newly activated user account and the user account that has now been deactivated.
• At the end of the journey and when the ignition is switched off: synchronises the last active user account.

You can also start the synchronisation manually in the user management menu, for example if automatic synchronisation fails when logging in. Synchronisation cannot take place automatically if the online status of the vehicle is impaired, e.g. in underground garages, or if you have activated offline mode.

Additional Information:
Manual synchronisation is possible only once in each driving cycle.
If an inactive user account is active in another vehicle and settings are synchronised from there, these settings are also transferred to your vehicle and assigned to the corresponding user account.


Also This:

Storing front passenger exterior mirror settings for reversing

1. Unlock the vehicle with the vehicle key to which the settings should be assigned.
2. Switch on the electronic parking brake.
3. Switch on the ignition.
4. Put the gearbox into neutral.
5. Select reverse gear.
6. Adjust the exterior mirror on the front passenger side so that you have a good view of the kerb area, for example.
7. Put the gearbox into neutral.
8. Switch off the ignition.
   The settings for the mirror position will be saved and assigned to the vehicle key.

 

[PanEuropean]

Hi @Massimo 2323 :

Thanks very much for that information. I am guessing you must be in a European market (perhaps the UK)?

Here in Canada, the importer (Volkswagen Canada) does not support this feature, we have no "Users" button on our infotainment screen. I am beginning to think that VW Canada has done a very poor job of implementing CarNet. My Golf was built in October 2023, but the maps in the navigation system are dated June 2022 (18 months old!) and my dealer tells me there is no way of updating them at the dealership or via internet. We also have no way of getting traffic information here in Canada - not through Sirius XM satellite radio, not through RDS, and not through CarNet.

My GTI is a high-spec model, its got the Discover Pro system, the head-up display, ACC, Traffic Assist, Travel Assist, Harmon Kardon, etc.

I'm going to reach out to VW Canada and see what they have to say. I'll come back and update this discussion for the benefit of others who might be encountering the same lack of functionality.

Michael

 

[Massimo 2323]

Memory buttons

Fig. 1 On the outside of the driver seat: memory buttons.

The memory buttons can be used to store and recall settings for the driver seat and the exterior mirrors.
Storing driver seat and exterior mirror settings for driving forwards

1. Switch on the electronic parking brake.
2. Put the gearbox into neutral.
3. Switch on the ignition.
4. Adjust the driver seat and exterior mirrors.
5. Press the
   
   → Fig. 1 button for longer than 1 second.
6. Within approximately 10 seconds, press the memory button you wish to use.
   An acoustic signal confirms that the settings have been stored.

Storing the front passenger exterior mirror settings for reversing

1. Switch on the electronic parking brake.
2. Put the gearbox into neutral.
3. Switch on the ignition.
4. Press the desired memory button → Fig. 1.
5. Select reverse gear.
6. Adjust the exterior mirror on the front passenger side so that you have a good view of the kerb area, for example.
   The settings for the mirror position will be saved automatically and assigned to the vehicle key that was used to unlock the vehicle.

Opening the driver seat and exterior mirror settings

1. When the vehicle is stationary, the ignition is switched off and one vehicle door is open, briefly press the corresponding memory button.
   After around 10 minutes, the stored positions can no longer be adjusted automatically. The adjustment process is cancelled if one of the memory buttons is pressed again.
   Or: with the ignition switched on or the vehicle door closed, press and hold the corresponding memory button until the stored positions have been reached.

The front passenger exterior mirror will leave the position saved for reversing automatically if the vehicle drives forwards at a speed of at least around 15 km/h (around 10 mph) or if you turn the rotary knob for the exterior mirror out of the R position and into another position.
If you open the driver door later than approximately 10 minutes after unlocking the vehicle, the driver seat and exterior mirrors are not automatically adjusted.


Personalisation

You can save and access your individual seat setting in a user account via the personalisation function.
After switching off the ignition and locking the vehicle, the driver seat and exterior mirror settings are stored in the user account.
The driver seat and exterior mirror settings are restored after the vehicle is unlocked and the driver door is opened.
The seat responds to selecting or changing a user account as follows:

• Vehicle stationary or moving no faster than around 5 km/h (around 3 mph): seat is moved. You can cancel the movement at any time by tapping the appropriate function button in the Infotainment system or by pressing a button on the driver seat.
• Vehicle moving faster than around 5 km/h (around 3 mph): seat is not moved. All other settings are made.

Some settings can be stored in the user accounts of the personalisation function and therefore change automatically when the user account changes.

 

[Massimo 2323]

Yes I live in Ireland. Crazy that the User/Personalisation and OTA updates of the maps/software is not supported in Canada. When the WeConnect Plus subscription terminates we loose the OTA maps update so we can do it manually , downloading the latest maps ( 6 months old) , installing the on a usb-c memory stick and it slowly updates the older maps.

 

[PanEuropean]

Hi again @Massimo 2323 :

I do have the seat memory buttons on my car, and they do work for remembering seat position & mirror position, but they don't pick up on the presence of a specific key to correlate key to user. One has to press and hold the appropriate button (1 for me, 2 for my wife) to recall the presets.

Michael

 

[fantozzi.cz]

Additional Information:
Manual synchronisation is possible only once in each driving cycle.

Thank you Massimo, this worked for me. Now every key is dedicated to a different person. After touching handle (keyless access) display shows "Welcome XXX" or "Welcome YYY".